Iron Man
Tony Stark is the CEO of Stark Industries and a wealthy billionaire businessman. Yet, very few also know that he doubles as Iron Man as well. Background *Born to the wealthy and influential Stark family of New York, 1975. *Displayed genius intelligence early; built his first internal combustion engine at 6, first personal computer and OS at 8. *Graduated from MIT with dual Masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; goes to work in Stark Industries R&D department. Named head of SI R&D at 20 *Born to the wealthy and influential Stark family of New York, 1975. *Displayed genius intelligence early; built his first internal combustion engine at 6, first personal computer and OS at 8. *Graduated from MIT with dual Masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; goes to work in Stark Industries R&D department. Named head of SI R&D at 20 *Parents die in small plane crash, Tony inherits SI and is principal shareholder at 21. He receives MBA from Harvard at 24, named CEO of SI. *Constant struggle to maintain control of SI and fend off takeover attempts from Hammer International, LexCorp, and others leads Tony into alcoholism. At 26, Tony crashes his Porsche on the Long Island Expressway while returning home from a night of partying. Tony is booked with DUI and goes to rehab out in California. Obidiah Stane named CEO of SI, Tony remains majority shareholder and retains control through proxy Pepper Potts, his personal assistant. *While in rehab, Tony starts working on inventions as work therapy. After rehab, Tony founds Circuits Maximus with former SI employees that had retired out in California, begins working full-time with his new company. *By 2004, Circuits Maximus becomes a major tech company in California. Tony buys out his partners and renames the company Stark Enterprises. A lawsuit over use of the Stark name causes conflict between Tony and Obidiah Stane. While legal proceedings occur, Tony goes to Afghanistan to test SE's new IED sensor. *Tony's convoy is ambushed by terrorists and he is severely wounded. Captured by the terrorists, Tony undergoes field surgery at their base, but much shrapnel remains, threatening his heart. To save his life, Dr. Yin Sen, a Korean physicist also captured by the terrorists, constructs a makeshift electro magnet implanted in Tony's chest to hold the shrapnel away from the heart. *The terrorists demand Tony and Yin Sen build a weapon for them. Instead, the pair build a suit of armor, powered by Tony's chest device. While Tony finishes the power-up sequence, Yin Sen is killed while preventing the guards from interrupting. Using the suit, Tony destroys the terrorist camp and escapes. He is found by Lt. Col. James Rhodes, SE's military liaison who has been searching non-stop for Tony the months following the convoy ambush. Tony offers Rhodes a job when he returns Stateside after his tour of duty is up. Rhodes agrees and becomes Tony's close friend and confidant as well as pilot and bodyguard. *Tony returns to America and announces his intention of regaining control of his family company. In the interim, Tony refines the chest device keeping him alive and creates a new suit of armor. He begins fighting crime in the L.A. area as Iron Man. *Hired by Stane to dig up dirt on Stark to use in the lawsuit, Spymaster discovers design notes for the Iron Man armor in Tony's home computer system. He gives them to Stane, who proceeds to have SI construct a suit of armor based off Tony's design. Dying of an inoperable brain tumor, Stane uses the Iron Monger armor to fight Tony in the streets of L.A. Tony wins, but Stane takes his own life rather than surrender by turning his repulsors on his unprotected head. *Tony constructs the 'bodyguard' story to explain Iron Man away. While the US Military is skeptical, Tony soothes the egos in Washington by constructing 5 suits of Mandroid armor for SHIELD based off the Iron Monger design. With Stane's death, Tony is back in control of SI and makes SE a subsidiary focusing on high-tech manufacturing. He continues fighting crime as Iron Man. *In 2008, the strain of being Iron Man causes the shrapnel to work into Tony's heart. As a life-saving measure, he has an artificial heart of his own design installed. Inspired, Tony founds Stark Solutions in Seattle to develop technological solutions to solve handicaps, medical, and social problems. *With the election of President Hundred, Iron Man is asked to join the Justice League as a founding member. Tony agrees and helps to fund the League through the Maria Stark Foundation and also donates his family mansion on Park Avenue to serve as a headquarters for the group. Personality *'ARROGANT': Tony has a very strong sense of his intellectual superiority. He's one of the smartest men on the planet and he knows it. He can sometimes get frustrated when others don't follow his lead or if explaining a concept that seems childishly simple to him. Despite this, Tony is a team player and is dedicated to using his superior intellect to helping society. *'NOBLISE OBLIGE': While some might say 'with great power comes great responsibility', Tony's view is that it is the duty of the gifted and blessed to help elevate and defend those who are unfortunate or cannot help or protect themselves. *'ABSENT-MINDED': When working on a technical problem, Tony gets so wrapped up, he tends to forget little things like appointments, eating, and sleeping. He loses track of time as well as the basic necessities and drops out of contact with his friends if the problem is particularly time consuming. *'TECHNOPHILE': Tony is amazed by the wonders of technology. To him, an intricate circuit pattern might as well be the Sistine Chapel. Sometimes, he'll analyze technology or comment on it at inappropriate times, like in the middle of a fight. While he's completely capable of talking about subjects other than technology, and often does, the quickest way to strike up a conversation with Tony is to start talking tech. *'SELF-RELIANT': A lifetime of being ahead of everyone else intellectually has drilled a sense of self-reliance into Tony. He doesn't expect anyone to do things for him. While he does delegate authority and responsibilities when it comes to his businesses, he tends to do so reluctantly and keeps a bare minimum of an executive staff. *'LOYAL': Regardless of his other faults, Tony is a loyal friend and boss. He'll go out of his way to make sure that his employees are taken care of, making budget cuts at his level before moving on to the lower levels. He also stands by his teammates, even f he does think they should follow his lead more often. Skills Tony Stark is a true modern renaissance man. Being born into one of America's wealthiest families as well as an exceptional intelligence has given Tony plenty of exposure to a myriad of subjects. He is knowledgeable in many subjects, including world affairs, style & fashion, art, literature, politics, science, pop culture, and sports. He also holds an MBA from Harvard and is considered one of the brightest minds in the business world. Tony's real expertise, however, is technology. Gaining a double Master's Degree in computer science and electrical engineering from MIT at just 16, Tony has supplemented his formal education by delving into just about every field of technology from materials engineering to aerospace engineering to robotics. His technical acumen in all fields is unmatched except by perhaps Lex Luthor, Reed Richards, and Victor Von Doom. While his breadth of technical knowledge is great, scientists that specialize within a field are likely to be more knowledgeable about their field than Tony (i.e. Dr. Will Magnus is more knowledgeable about robotics than Tony, although can understand many of Magnus' theories). Boons *'IRON MAN ARMOR': Tony's crowning achievement, this suit of personal armor is impervious to everything short of high-energy weaponry, fully environmentally sealed, can fly at Mach 1, lift 50 tons, fire repulsor blasts that can cave in the side armor of a tank, use short range EM beams to lift magnetic objects at range or magnetize such object, and has a full host of sensor and computer capabilities. In addition, he can focus the armor's power supply through the uni-beam in the chest for a more devastating blast that takes time to build up or add additional capabilities with mission-specific gadgets such as a booster pack that allows for limited space flight and re-entry. *'CONNECTIONS': Tony is very well connected, both in and out of armor. He's on a first name basis with major business moguls, politicians, world leaders, and major entertainers. He's also a major supplier to SHIELD of vehicles, tech supplies, and non-lethal weaponry, including the Mandroid power armor. As Iron Man, he's built up a solid reputation over the past few years and is a founding member of the Justice League. *'STARK FAMILY FORTUNE': Owing to his family's long legacy of manufacturing and innovation, Tony is one of the richest men in America, if not the world, keeping pace with Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Bruce Wayne, and Lex Luthor. He has houses all over the world with maintenance facilities for his armor in his Long Island and Malibu houses. *'BUSINESSES': Tony hasn't just sat on what his family gave him; he's expanded and re-defined himself and the family business over the years. Stark Industries remains the core, with the brand new Stark Tower in Manhattan as it's headquarters. After he finished his alcohol recovery, Tony founded Stark Enterprises in Los Angeles to prove to himself and the world what he could do on his own. And finally, after having his damaged heart replaced with an artificial one, he founded Stark Solutions in Seattle to focus on applications of high technology to directly benefit society. He regularly telecommutes between the three as well as physically commutes via jet. *'HANDSOME': Tony has a reputation as a heart-breaker not just for his style and wit, but also for his movie-star quality looks. More than one of his friends in Hollywood has tried to get him to take up acting, but Tony just brushes the idea off. Flaws *'SECRET IDENTITY': The world is unaware that Tony Stark is Iron Man, although his teammates in the JLA know. Tony has maintained the story that Iron Man is a hired bodyguard through such trickery as a remote controlled (unarmed) armor suit appearing with him at press conferences. General speculation is that James Rhodes is really Iron Man. *'FAMOUS': Because of his looks, intelligence, and wealth, Tony is a prominent fixture in the media and well known both from business and his regular appearances in the tabloids. *'RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC': Tony has been clean and sober for almost 6 years now. Despite some slip-ups at the beginning of his rehab, he's committed to staying sober and has funded free recovery clinics in both L.A. and New York. *'ARTIFICIAL HEART': Spending time as Iron Man caused the shrapnel in Tony's chest to cause more damage to his heart. As a result, a few years ago, Tony had his damaged heart replaced with an artificial one of his own design. While the heart is EMP shielded and provides a filter for blood toxins (like alcohol), technopaths can still 'control' it and cause it to stop. *'EMPLOYEES': Besides many of his staff being close friends with Tony, employees of his companies are potential targets by villains intent on disrupting Stark's business efforts or drawing out Iron Man for a confrontation. *'ROGUE'S GALLERY': After 5 years as Iron Man, Tony has amassed a sizable list of opponents. Most are high-tech thieves like the Raiders, or agent provocateurs like Spymaster or Titanium Man. Organizations such as AIM, HYDRA, and KOBRA are also counted among Iron Man's enemies. Tony Stark himself has several rivals in the business world such as Justin Hammer and Lex Luthor. Tony's arch-nemesis would be the Mandarin, who faces Iron Man with his rings of power in combat and is a business rival in Asia. Logs Including Iron Man 2010-08-17: Ninjas, Cap and Ollie's Social Skills: Iron Man debriefs with some of his fellow JLAers 2010-08-17: T and J present Monitor Duty!: Two eggheads talk about the state of the world and a potential new recruit. 2010-08-19: Laying a Foundation: Tony and Nick discuss what to do with the revived Captain America. 2010-08-21: You had a point? 2010-08-21: Making The Pitch: Tony makes the JLA recruitment pitch to Captain America. 2010-08-22: Joining the Team: Captain America meets some of the Leaguers and officially accepts the offer of membership. Category:Taken Feature Character